Friday, March 6, 2009

A Little Bit Can Go a Long Way

By David Hylton, Public Relations Specialist

$10 … should I buy 10 songs from iTunes or a duck that can provide food to a family in Timor-Leste? As more and more Americans receive their tax refunds in the next several weeks, this is a legitimate question we should ask ourselves.

In writing a recent news release about tax refunds and breaking it down by the numbers, I realized that it doesn’t take much to make a big difference in the life of a child where Christian Children’s Fund works. In these tight economic times, more and more people are watching every penny spent, but we should not forget about the children less fortunate than us around the world.

The average American will receive more than a $2,000 tax refund this year. While this can certainly help pay off some bills or even catch up on some debt, did you know that it costs just $288 to sponsor one child for one year through CCF? Besides sponsorship, there also are several other ways to help deprived, excluded and vulnerable children in the 31 countries CCF works. $6 can buy cough medicine for a child in Honduras; $10 can buy a duck for a family in Timor-Leste; $14 can provide an art kit for a child in Angola; and $36 can purchase a goat for a family in Zambia. Hundreds of gifts are available up to $5,300 apiece.

The statement of a little bit goes a long way certainly applies when talking about children living in poverty.

For more on this subject, click here to check out our latest news release. For more information on CCF, visit www.christianchildrensfund.org. (We’re on Twitter too at www.twitter.com/C_C_F.)